27.6.2026 13:00-15:00

A PHANTOM WITH LIMBS OF STEEL

A tour of Rapperswil as a theatre of war begins in the Middle Ages, when its strategic position on Lake Zürich made Rapperswil Castle both a symbol of power and a target: in 1350, during conflict with Zürich and the failed uprising against Rudolf Brun, the town and castle were destroyed and later rebuilt under Habsburg rule . In 19th and 20th centuries the Castle became a sanctuary for the stateless nation’s heritage housing Polish National Museum and later with Switzerland remaining neutral in WW2 turning into a site of “cultural guardianship” for about 13, 000 Polish soldiers who were interned in Rapperswil after the fall of France. This layered past is embodied in Tadeusz Kościuszko presence, whose heart—once kept in an urn on the castle grounds—anchors Rapperswil in transnational memory politics, a cultural and political battleground over history, identity, and ownership of the past.

We uncover more of these stories while visiting Rapperswil Castle, Polish Museum and Kunst (Zeug) Haus to see the latest exhibition curated by Kim Anni Bassen, titled A PHANTOM WITH LIMBS OF STEEL.

🕐 When : Saturday, 27.06 at 13.00-15:00

📍Meet up point  : Curti-Haus, 2 min from Rapperswil Bahnhof

Image and Text by Maria Sorensen

This event is part of the collaboration with the Master Cultural Critique, Curatorial Studies, ZHdK